Allen puts on a clinic as Blues shut out Predators 4-0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Nashville threw every puck it could at St. Louis' net. It wasn't enough to beat Jake Allen even once.
Allen made 45 saves and the Blues scored three times in the third period to beat the Predators 4-0 Saturday night for their fifth win in six games.
Colton Parayko, Alex Pietrangelo, Scottie Upshall and Alexander Steen scored.
The shutout was the second of the season for Allen and the seventh of his career. Scott Gomez added a pair of assists.
"This team is a very dangerous team we are playing against," Allen said. "They are one of the best in the league for a reason. They like to throw pucks to the net, big bodies at the net."
The Predators have lost three of four.
"It wasn't from a lack of trying," Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said. "Attempts, opportunities, quality scoring chances were all heavily stacked. The kid played a good game in net. We hit the post six times and couldn't get it to bounce."
Parayko scored the game's first goal at 8:23 of the opening period. With the Blues on a power play, Troy Brouwer had the puck at the right faceoff dot and slid a backdoor pass to Parayko on the left side for an easy one-timer past Pekka Rinne.
"It was an unbelievable play down in the corner there and found Brouwer in the slot," Parayko said. "I don't know if he faked a shot, but he just slid it over to me and it looked like I pretty much had most of the net."
Pietrangelo doubled the Blues lead at 2:30 of the third.
With the Blues on another power play, Steen sent a pass to Pietrangelo at the left faceoff dot, where he sent a one-timer by Rinne on the short side.
Upshall made it 3-0 3 minutes later. Carrying the puck into the Nashville zone on a 3-on-1, Upshall beat Rinne from the right circle.
Upshall is a former Predator, taken by Nashville with the sixth overall pick in the 2002 draft.
Steen scored his eighth of the season at 12:51 of the third from the right side.
As good as the Blues were on the power play in the game, they were equally as good on the penalty kill, highlighted by a late second-period stretch when they denied the Predators on 1:20 of a two-man advantage.
"It's frustrating if you can't score," Nashville defenseman Roman Josi said. "You have to give them credit. They capitalized and they played good defensively and their goalie was really good."
St. Louis successfully killed all five Nashville power plays in the game.
"You need to win the special teams game if you expect to win on the road," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "That's what we did. We did this in Chicago and then we did it again tonight."
Notes: After going six games without a power-play goal, the Blues have three in their last two games. ... Pietrangelo played his 400th career game. . Nashville has allowed two power-play goals in consecutive games. ... After returning from a two week long road trip, the Predators lost in regulation at home for the first time this season.
